Technical note Design of a PLC system for automatic I-123 production

Design of the production system for Iodine-123 has begun recently in nuclear research centre of agricultural and medicine (NRCAM). The production system consists of pipes for xenon gas transfer, equipped with 10 valves, 3 heaters, fluid nitrogen and 2 vacuum pumps. In the first prototype the function of elements was being done manually by an operator. Because dispensing radiopharmaceuticals manually involves receiving radiation dose by operators, therefore, automation is very important step in radiopharmaceutical production. The automatic system for production of Iodine-123 is PLC /135u Siemens, which is designed and installed for the first time in Iran. The PLC was connected to the production system through relays. By programming the CPU of the PLC, start up and control of the production procedure was executed automatically. Automation leads to reduced presence of operator for Iodine-123 production. We were also able to record storage and transfer of materials and minimize risk of error. Automation in production of radiopharmaceutical may lead to reduced radiation dose to personnel and achieved better dispensing precision.